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No more K-9s in local law enforcement |
Two drug-sniffing, suspect-chasing K-9s are no longer part of the county’s law enforcement agencies.
Mille Lacs Tribal Officer Pat Broberg’s dog Magic retired on January 1st and one week later, his counterpart, Tracker, was put to sleep.
Mille Lacs County Deputy Terry Boltjes, who was Tracker’s partner and handler, said Tracker had to be put down due to an illness thought to be spinal muscular atrophy. That neuromuscular disease was ruled out, but no autopsy was conducted so there’s no way to know exactly what caused the K-9’s illness.
While Broberg has decided Magic’s retirement is also Broberg’s retirement as a K-9 officer, Boltjes is
hoping the sheriff’s office and county commissioners will agree that a replacement K-9 for him is necessary for the county.
“I would say it’s a necessity,” Broberg said. “We need that.”
One of the reasons Broberg is done with K-9 work is due to the amount of hours put in working with the dog.
“I don’t think people realize how much time is put into the K-9,” Broberg said of the hundreds of hours training and taking care of the dog. “It’s a lot of dedication. A lot of work.”
The dogs are also part of the officers family life.
Both Tracker and Magic were part of the North Central Drug Task Force in 2008.
“It was nice to have a dog available when you went out on a search warrant,” Broberg said.
The dogs often assisted other counties, such as Kanabec and Aitkin, which are part of the task force.
It’s tough to place a value on a K-9 dog.
It didn’t matter what time of day or night, the dogs were always ready to work.
“The phone would ring and Magic would be at the door ready to go,” Broberg said.
“Tracker knew as soon as he saw me in my uniform,” Boltjes commented. “He’d go nuts when I went to court.”
Tracker didn’t likely understand why he didn’t get to work those days.
K-9s can sniff out drugs, track down suspects and apprehend bad guys.
Broberg and Boltjes recalled some of the work the dogs did for the county.
Broberg told of one traffic stop in which he suspected the driver had narcotics. The driver denied having drugs until he heard Magic bark.
“Is that a drug dog?” the suspect asked.
When he learned he’d been stopped by a K-9 officer, the suspect quickly handed over two half-pound bags of marijuana that were stuffed in his jacket.
Another time Magic sniffed out a block of cocaine that was in a hidden compartment of a vehicle, which might not have been found otherwise.
Tracker’s most recent apprehension was a domestic situation in which the bad guy fled. Police searched for him, but it was Tracker who discovered the suspect had back-tracked and the dog found the man lying in the snow.
“It was the second time Tracker had located him,” Boltjes said of the repeat offender.
There’s no doubt that K-9s are a deterrent.
“K-9s have saved officers from altercations just by hearing a bark,” Boltjes said.
Another domestic situation in which the suspect fled into the woods, ended when the K-9 officer followed. When he yelled into the woods that he was a K-9 officer, the man came walking out with his hands up.
Boltjes said there have been several incidents in which a suspect was ready for a fight, but once they heard the dog bark or realized it was a K-9 unit, it ended there.
“People are more scared of a K-9 than a police officer,” Boltjes said. “People will fight a police officer but they don’t like to fight a K-9.”
Facing a dog bite is the deterrent.
One suspect was being tracked at night. The officers stayed “blacked out” so they didn’t give their position away. The officers followed the K-9 who indicated the suspect was just ahead. They shined a flashlight on the suspect and when he refused to cooperate, the dog was deployed. They found the bad guy holding the dog’s face next to his own.
Education
The amount of man hours saved in tracking a suspect or searching for drugs is priceless.
As are the faces of children who meet the K-9s when educational presentations are given in the communities.
Boltjes said that’s how the officers are often remembered by children.
And when the officers have to go into a home for a domestic issue, the fact that children in the home recognize the K-9 unit often helps calm down the situation at hand.
“The reason why I do this? These kids are our future,” Broberg pointed out.
While Broberg realizes they can’t get all the drugs off the street, they know the dogs have helped get quite a bit off the streets.
“We’ve made a difference,” Broberg said, then added, “These are our future leaders and we need to keep them on the right path.”
Although the award-winning German shepherd is gone, and the yellow lab is getting spoiled in retirement, the two will be missed by law enforcement and the community.
“It’s an enjoyable experience I’ve loved for the last nine years,” Broberg said.
“They’re the best partner in the world,” Boltjes said. “They don’t talk back! Well, they do bark.”
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Thank you for your service!